Rory didn't know what it was about her late-night chat with Sirius or the tea they'd shared, but Rory managed to sleep almost all through the night. She'd woken up once from a bad dream, but was so exhausted she had no trouble getting back to sleep soon after.

She woke around the same time she usually did when she was waiting up for her dad but remembered that he was going to sleep at their flat, alone, so that Rory would be forced to not fuss after him.

But it was still early. Too early for Sirius to be awake or for Hermione and the Weasleys to be here. The house was utterly silent.

She sat up and pulled her bag from the floor. She grabbed a pen and a piece of parchment. Now was as good a time as any to write to Harry.

Harry,

I've finally gotten out of the house for a bit. It's because it's the full moon and Dad doesn't like to leave me home overnight by myself if he can help it, especially since I'm not sleeping and having panic attacks and am just not doing great in general. But I did sleep through most of this last evening. Only nightmares, no panic attacks at least. So maybe I'm getting better. Dad said he hoped getting out of the house would help a bit. Perhaps it has.

I'm supposed to see the Weasleys and Hermione today. Once I've got all the adults in charge together I'm going to ask again about you being able to visit. Even if you don't get to see me (a travesty for certain), at least going to the Burrow would be good for you. You just need out of that house. To have support while you deal with… Well, all this. I'm doing terribly and I've been home with my dad all summer. I hate to think of you dealing with it alone.

The papers are, as usual, ridiculous. I don't have words. I can't even read it anymore. Hopefully, we'll be able to gripe about it together soon. I'm certain you'll end up going off on a whole rant about it because my dad has already had to stop me from going off about it several times and it's not even about me.

I just love you and am quite overprotective of you apparently. Your wellbeing is high on my priority list and I don't like the steady stream of libelous statements being leveled against you across the country. Definitely willing to throw hands with whoever owns The Prophet.

I miss you so much, it's driving me mad. I want to be able to tell you everything and nothing and I just want you here. I'm probably going to snog your face off when I see you. Your face will be gone because I'll have kissed it entirely away.

I love you. Love, love, love you. Please stay sane and well until I can see you again.

Love Always,

Aurora

She put the letter into an envelope and sealed it. It had taken her a while to write it, but the sun was only just now higher in the sky. Sirius was certainly still not awake, but she couldn't stand to be in her room any longer.

Rory left her room and walked back to the kitchen, where she spotted a house elf. It was old, crouched over and he looked mean. Rory had met loads of house-elves during her visits to the kitchen with Harry. Mostly she was familiar with Dobby, the house-elf who'd worked for the Malfoys who saved Harry's life, and Winky who'd worked for Barty Crouch Sr. before he fired her at the Quidditch World Cup. She did not have a good frame of reference for house-elves, though she suspected they were like people and varied in personality wildly.

"Oh!" Rory exclaimed. The elf looked over to her. "I didn't realize there was a house-elf in residence here. I'm Aurora. I'm-."

"You're his spawn. Kreacher knows," the elf said.

Rory stiffened. Anytime someone referred to you as someone's "spawn" she knew they only had nasty things to say that followed. But it made sense. If this house-elf had served the Black family, of course, it would hate Sirius and his daughter.

"Is Kreacher your name then?" Rory asked. She had to at least try to get him to not hate her.

"If Kreacher's mistress was still alive, you'd be out on the street. Wouldn't have filth like you lurking through her home," he said.

"Cool," Rory said, giving up. "Being that I am a member of the Black family, might you take a moment from insulting me to point me towards where the coffee's kept?"

Kreacher raised his thin fingers and pointed to a cabinet.

"Thank you," Rory said. Kreacher slinked from the room, muttering to himself. Rory could only make out a few of his unkind words. She half expected to open the cabinet and be attacked by a hoard of spiders or doxies, but thankfully, there was indeed coffee.

She filled the percolator with coffee ground and water. She was thankful to find matches but was desperate enough for caffeine that she'd risk using her wand if that was the only way she could light the stove.

While she waited for her coffee to finish, she searched the refrigerator and cabinets for a few things to make breakfast for herself and for Sirius when he woke up. Rory enjoyed cooking. It was relaxing. When she was younger, she thought it might be cool to own a restaurant, but then she decided she didn't want the responsibility of running a business and managing people.

All the same, she was it was still refreshing to be in the kitchen and it was nice to cook for someone who wasn't her father. She'd made cupcakes for Matilda and Neville once, but that was it.

Rory sang while she cooked, ABBA always when she was in a good mood. Something about being in a kitchen made her want to sing. Just as she was pouring herself coffee she was interrupted.

"Bravo! Well done, well done!"

She looked over, startled, and saw the entire Weasley family, Hermione, and Sirius in the doorway of the kitchen. Fred and George were applauding dramatically.

"Didn't know I had an audience," she replied. "I was just making-."

"I can't believe that sound came out of you!" Mrs. Weasley said. "I read that article in the paper and they said you would Celestina Warbeck to shame."

"She's mum's favorite," Ginny said. Mrs. Weasley shushed her.

"I thought it must be an exaggeration, but you've got me convinced," she went on.

"They actually said that I'll likely surpass her talent, so I expect I have some more work ahead of me," Rory said.

"That's the most modest I've ever seen you," Hermione said.

"Gotta keep my head from getting too big," Rory replied.

"I think we're well past that," Ron said.

"Anyway, I'd have cooked for everyone, but I forgot you all were coming. I'm sorry," Rory said.

"Not to worry, we're all fed here," Mrs. Weasley said. "Can't let them leave the house without a good meal."

"Very good," Rory said. She looked to Sirius. "I just assume everyone eats scrambled eggs. If you don't, that's really too bad."

"I think I'll survive," Sirius said.

They gathered upstairs in the dining room, and Rory felt herself relaxing. She'd only spent two weeks away from her friends, but she was glad to be with them now. It was weird to see Fred considering Matilda had written her three times about how Fred Weasley was the worst. But she was glad to be back with Ron and Hermione even if there was a noticeable absence now that the three of them were together.

Harry was missing. Yes, she'd been friends with Ron and Hermione for years now, but they were a separate unit from her. She spent all of her time with Matilda and Neville. Any time she spent with Ron and Hermione was almost always also spent with Harry. But he wasn't here. And that just made Rory miss him even more. She wanted to amend the letter she'd written him to really drive home how much she missed him now.

"It's been hard to write to him," Ron said after breakfast. The three of them were sitting in the den on the couch together. "Because we're not allowed to say anything about what's happening."

"Yeah. I can tell he's frustrated," Hermione said.

"Definitely," Rory said. "And any time I've asked dad about when Harry can leave his house, he just says 'soon.' Like what does that even mean? I'm frustrated for him."

"But what can we do?" Ron asked. "It's not like we can make them get Harry from Surrey."

"Not with that attitude," Rory said.

"Now don't go getting over-zealous," Hermione said.

"Over-zealous? Me?" Rory asked.

"You're like a shark, and you get the faintest hint of blood in the water and you attack. They're not intentionally keeping Harry in Surrey. I'm sure Dumbledore has a good reason," Hermione said.

Rory respected Dumbledore. He was brilliant. He was an excellent headmaster, and this last year he'd gone out of his way for her with regards to her newfound abilities as a seer. But Dumbledore was not infallible. He was capable of making mistakes and overlooking things. Even if the thing he overlooked was that Harry, while a target for Voldemort, was still a 14-year-old boy who'd just witnessed one of his classmates get murdered, was nearly murdered himself, and then was shipped off home to a family that didn't love him.

"Well, Hermione," Rory said. "I think I'd like to hear what Dumbledore's reason is, don't you?"


The Order was meeting that evening after the children had dinner. Remus had returned and Aurora made a big deal of checking to see that he was well.

When Tonks and Kingsley arrived Molly shooed her children off so the meeting could be conducted privately. Aurora, Hermione, and Ron were the last children remaining in the kitchen.

"That includes you three," Molly said.

"Actually," Aurora said holding up a hand, "since I have you folks here, I thought maybe you could indulge me and answer a few harmless questions."

Remus took in and then exhaled a deep breath. "Aurora, don't start."

"Don't start what?" Aurora asked. "I haven't even said anything yet. Do you even know what I'm going to ask?"

"No. But I know you're ruminating on a lot of things right now," Remus said.

"And shouldn't I be? I mean, just two weeks ago I was being held hostage by one of Voldemort's cronies and none of you has said a peep about what they've been up to since then," Rory said.

"I understand, but now is not really the time," Remus said.

Rory sighed. "Fine. We just wanted to know about Harry right now anyway."

"What about him?" Sirius asked. Remus was definitely still exhausted from his evening and taking some of the heat from Aurora would definitely help him out, especially since they had an entire meeting to have afterward.

"Well, he's in Surrey," Ron said.

"So he is," Molly said.

"Why?" Aurora asked.

"…Well, that's where he lives," Remus said.

And then Aurora's eyes narrowed and Sirius saw so much of her mother in that face that it took his breath away for a moment. Once he was back in the present he realized that he knew that look she had on. She was annoyed. And given Remus' preemptive exasperation, they were about to learn why he'd told her "don't start."

"Yes, he lives there, technically," she said, "and yes the Dursleys are technically his family, but you lot," she pointed to Molly, Arthur, Remus, and the Sirius, "you're who he considers his actual family. Mrs. Weasley, you even asked Dumbledore to let Harry stay with you for the summer instead of sending him back to Surrey."

"Well Dumbledore insisted he spend a bit of time with his family," Molly said simply, though it was obvious she'd have preferred to have Harry there.

"Right. Dumbledore," Aurora said. Hermione gently elbowed her, a similar signal for her friend to reign it in. "Dumbledore is great. We all know this, but I think perhaps he hasn't taken into account that Harry saw Cedric Diggory get murdered, and then Voldemort tried to murder him, and the spirits of Cedric, and his parents all showed up to help him escape. And then he was nearly murdered a second time. And that maybe, I dunno, maybe you might come out the other side of that being not super okay."

Silence. There was silence because there was no arguing with the point she'd just made. Harry was probably not doing great.

"I'm sure he's doing all right," Tonks said. Sirius was glad someone who didn't know Aurora well chimed in because he knew it meant she would be more patient when it came to their point of view.

"I mean," Aurora paused for a moment, thinking over her words, "well, he's not. He's not okay. He's having a terrible summer. Because his aunt and uncle don't care about him, his cousin is relentlessly harassing him about having nightmares every night to the point where he can't even sleep. He has no idea what's going on here and neither do any of us, and he's just miserable. Because he saw someone die and was nearly murdered twice in the span of an hour."

"Dumbledore thinks it's important that he spend time with his family," Remus said.

"They don't want him there. He doesn't want to be there. It just doesn't make sense to me that you send someone who experiences something that traumatic back to an environment where he was already previously traumatized, and expect them to be fine," Aurora said. "I left Hogwarts and came home to people who actually care about me, and I still have to sleep with the door open and the lights on so I don't have panic attacks or puke my guts up in the middle of the night. I mean, can you imagine if I went through all of that and was just alone? Not just left alone, but resented?"

Notably, beside Sirius, he noticed that Tonks seemed to be the only person in the room unfazed by Aurora, instead hanging on her every word.

"I mean, he spent the first ten years he lived with them sleeping in a cupboard under the stairs. And then they gave him his own room and they put bars on his windows and Ron literally had to come kidnap him in the middle of the night. Third year he ran away from home and lived in Diagon Alley for the whole summer. And last year, the only reason they didn't give him any grief is because Sirius is an alleged serial killer and it scared them off," Aurora said.

Remus opened his mouth to chime in, but Aurora wasn't finished. "Sirius," Aurora said. His heart skipped a beat. He did not want to be in the direct line of questioning, "You escaped from prison and lived out and about wherever you could for two years when you had a perfectly good house to live in, but you didn't come back here because you were treated so terribly here. Harry just went through the worst thing he's ever experienced, and Dumbledore just sent him back there."

Now Tonks took a long drink of her water glass. Even the unflappable Kingsley looked uncomfortable.

"Aurora, Dumbledore has a very good reason for keeping him home for now," Remus said.

"Well, what is it then?" she asked. She folded her arms and sat back in her chair. Everyone was silent. They couldn't tell her that Harry had a connection to Voldemort's mind and that him being here would severely jeopardize all the things they were trying to do to keep him safe.

"Sweetheart, we're just trying to keep him safe," Molly said.

Aurora scrunched up her face which was red now, clearly in an effort to keep herself from crying.

"And he's safe in Surrey?" she asked. "Your sons can steal a flying car and kidnap him in the middle of the night. Sirius, fresh out of prison can track him down to his house. Voldemort though? He'll never figure it out. That's what you're saying?"

Aurora had all of Sirius's tenacity and all of Remus's brain and that was making it very difficult to tell her not to worry without openly lying to her.

"This whole house, with every protection spell imaginable on it, and a Fidelius charm to top it, and Harry's safer in Surrey than he is here?" Aurora asked. "I mean this is where Harry wanted to be. With you, Sirius? And he's just stuck in Surrey with PTSD and no support to lean on?"

"Aurora," Tonks said, she was very calm, very collected. "I'm still wet behind the ears as Aurors go, but I am the first one they've taken on in years, so not to pat myself on the back I do know what I'm talking about here. Can we agree on that before I continue?"

"Yes," Aurora said with a nod.

"Excellent," Tonks said.

"Unless your next sentence starts with 'Dumbledore has a really good reason,'" Aurora said.

That was definitely what Sirius was intending to say, so he was glad Tonks had taken over.

"It makes perfect, logical sense to move Harry somewhere where Voldemort can't find him. Like here, absolutely. So why don't we do that? Where have you been the last two weeks?" Tonks asked.

"At home," Aurora said.

"And what do you know about what's going on here besides our goal is to keep Harry safe and to take out Voldemort?" Tonks asked.

"Nothing," she replied with a roll of her eyes.

"Right. So you can't tell Harry anything of note, except that maybe you can't tell him anything," Tonks said.

"I guess," Aurora said.

"But by telling him that you've been instructed to tell him nothing, if Voldemort got ahold of your letters he'd assume that you know something and might ultimately decide that if he goes after you instead of Harry, his whole plan will work out anyway because, as I've been told, Harry is not going to let any of his friends or family, especially his girlfriend get into danger and stay there," Tonks said.

And then Aurora frowned. Sirius could practically see her shrink.

"Right. So luckily for you, we already knew that number one, you tell Harry everything, which is reasonable, and that number two, Voldemort probably already knows you're a seer. So, we've already had surveillance on you since you got home. But why not bring Harry here?" Tonks asked. "Because he doesn't know anything other than he doesn't know something. And the minute he comes here he's going to know something. And then he's going to go to school. And Hogwarts is very well managed, but it is not perfect by any means. So he is vulnerable the moment he leaves here. The less he knows, the better. The less you know the better as well."

Aurora rolled her eyes again.

"I know you are looking out for Harry, I really do. And I will make sure you get to see him this summer, but please trust me when I say that right now he is better off being in Surrey," Tonks said. "And believe it or not, Dumbledore actually does have a good reason for him being Surrey."

Aurora was silent. Sirius could practically feel Remus stiffen behind him.

"Let's go," Hermione whispered.

"Fine," Aurora said as the trio got to their feet. "But, I am a seer. And I know what you said is true, but I also know that you're still lying about something. And whatever it is, it'd better be worth compromising Harry's mental well-being for it. And you can all unquestionably listen to Dumbledore all you like, but he's felt that it's okay for Harry to just be mistreated in his aunt and uncle's home since his parents died. And I really would like to know the reason why he thinks that's okay. Thanks for coming to my TED Talk."

They walked out of the dining room and made a lot of noise as they went up the stairs. They could hear Aurora's muffled complaining.

"What… Is a TED talk?" Arthur asked.

"It's a muggle thing," Remus said, finally taking a seat. "Sorry. Aurora is very-."

"She loves a lot. Nothing wrong with that," Molly said. "Look at the way she fussed after you when you came in here."

The door opened again and Aurora came back into the room. She held out an envelope to Remus.

"Can you post this for me? There's nothing incriminating in it if Voldemort reads it," she said, cutting a quick look towards Tonks.

"I will," Remus said.

"Thanks," she replied and then stomped out of the room again.

"You know, about a year ago I was her favorite person," Remus said.

"Did you see the look she gave me?" Tonks asked. She shuddered.

"Great job diffusing that by the way," Arthur said.

"Well, as I told her, I am an Auror. I know a thing or two," Tonks said.

"Or three or four," Kingsley chimed in.

"Thanks," Tonks told him with a wink.